How much can a single faulty forecast affect a business? For almond farmers in the Central Valley, the Punjabi American Growers Group says it cost growers $1.2 billion "overnight." As a result, the Almond Board of California voted in December to end funding for its annual objective forecast. The decision...
New California Law Requires a Working Fridge and Stove in All Apartments
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Fridge-less apartments dotting the pricey California rental market will soon be a head-scratching relic. Beginning Jan. 1, landlords will be required to provide all apartments with a working stove and refrigerator thanks to a new state law. It...
CHP Arrests Impaired Driver Found Passed Out in Roadway in Fresno
California Highway Patrol officers in Fresno arrested an impaired driver who was found passed out in the driver’s seat while parked in the middle of a roadway, authorities said Tuesday. The driver was determined to be over three times the legal alcohol limit, according to the California Highway Patrol. Officers...
Oil Set for Biggest Annual Drop Since 2020
Oil prices crept higher on Wednesday while heading for a fall of more than 15% over the course of 2025, as expectations of oversupply increased in a year marked by wars, higher tariffs, increased OPEC+ output and sanctions on Russia, Iran and Venezuela. Brent crude futures, down over 17% -...
How Israel’s Multi-Ton Truck Bombs Ripped Through Gaza City
In the weeks before the Gaza ceasefire on October 10, Israel widely deployed a new weapon: M113 Armored Personnel Carriers repurposed to carry between 1 and 3 tons of explosives, Reuters found. As Israeli troops pushed toward the center of Gaza City, these powerful bombs, along with airstrikes and armor-plated...
Wall Street Opens Subdued in Last Session of 2025, Eyes Yearly Gains
Wall Street was poised for a subdued open on the last trading day of 2025, but approached a robust end to a roller-coaster year marked by uncertainty over President Donald Trump's tariffs and unrivalled euphoria around AI. The S&P 500 and the Dow are set to close their eighth consecutive...
George and Amal Clooney Become French Citizens
France has granted citizenship to Hollywood star George Clooney and his wife, the human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, according to government decrees issued over the weekend. The orders of naturalization for the couple and their 8-year-old twins came in documents published by France’s Ministry of Justice. Clooney, who was born...
Justice Dept. Leaders Pushed to Charge Abrego Garcia, Emails Show
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors in Nashville, Tennessee, have insisted in the past few months that senior Justice Department officials had no involvement in their decision to file charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the immigrant who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March and then brought back to the United...
Trump Administration Must Fund US Consumer Finance Watchdog, Judge Says
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a claim by President Donald Trump's administration that it is legally barred from securing funding for the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, noting that a court order already bars the administration from shutting the agency down. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Amy Berman...
Federal Judge Blocks Deportations of South Sudanese Migrants
A federal judge in Boston blocked the Trump administration Tuesday from ending temporary deportation protections for migrants from South Sudan, a move to halt any deportations that came a week before the migrants’ status was set to expire. The decision, by Judge Angel Kelley, temporarily preserved deportation protections for about...